Joanna Hayes @joannachayes - Tumblr Blog

Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne

And now my blog has ended. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for reading over the years. My final recap of the #GameofThrones series: "Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne"

After three centuries, “The Iron Throne” is gone, melted down by the dragonfire that was used to craft it in the first place. Forged by Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen ruler, the seat was made from the swords of the surrendered lords forced to bow to the invading dragon king. Aegon Targaryen wanted the seat to be uncomfortable, cutting all those who sat upon it in order to remind them of…

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Season 8, Episode 5: The Bells

Penultimate recap for the penultimate episode of #GameofThrones Season 8, Episode 5: "The Bells" #FortheThrone

In the penultimate episode of the entire Game of Thrones series, characters and audience members alike are forced to reckon with their expectations of the pivotal moment to which the show has been building all along. The moment the bells toll in King’s Landing, they signal one of the most critical decisions in the whole series– one that will force us to rethink everything that came before it and…

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Season 8, Episode 4: The Last of the Starks

New recap is up: "The Last of the Starks" #GameofThrones #FortheThrone

The battle with the dead may have ended in victory, but the perpetual war among the living is far from over. “We may have defeated them, but we still have us to contend with.” Tyrion tells Davos. Even though so many different people banded together to fight an existential battle with the dead, it’s already taken no time at all for them to start fracturing again.

I always thought one of the majors…

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Season 8, Episode 3: The Long Night

The dead are here at last. When the White Walkers first appeared thousands of years ago, they called it the “The Long Night,” and it lasted for a whole generation (as Old Nan tells Bran in Season 1). This time around, the struggle of a generation (or even for all of humanity) occurs during one long night.

(more…)

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Season 8, Episode 2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

One of the best of the series. Season 8, Episode 2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

On the eve of the biggest battle in Game of Thrones history, we say what feels like goodbye to many beloved defenders of the realms of men. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” refers specifically to the new Ser Brienne of Tarth, but each character featured has in some way found their courage, honor, and/or redemption in preparation to fight for the lives of all men. In that way, they are all like…

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Season 8, Episode 1: Winterfell

Back to where we started in Season 8, Episode 1: "Winterfell"

As Game of Thrones begins its final season, we arrive back where we started when the series began all those years ago: Winterfell, the episode’s titular setting. It’s fitting for the show to return to the northern keep in such tight focus after years of expanding and world-building; the showrunners now have only six episodes to bring everything together again, and there’s no more perfect place to…

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Season 7, Episode 7: The Dragon and the Wolf

In the final episode of the penultimate season, political intrigue replaced CGI-driven battles to bring us a classic episode, more of the sort that Game of Thrones made its name on. “The Dragon and the Wolf” saw siblings reunited and torn apart, alliances formed and double-crossed, monsters both living and dead, incestuous love affairs, big conversations in small rooms, and the bloody end of a…

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Season 7, Episode 6: Beyond the Wall

The second to last episode of the season, “Beyond the Wall” leaves the living in a far more perilous position for the wars to come. North of the Wall, Tyrion’s latest disastrous plan unravels quickly, and in the end they succeed only at great cost to their campaign against the dead. South of the Wall, Arya continues to misunderstand and threaten her sister, Sansa, tearing apart a great house that…

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Season 7, Episode 5: Eastwatch

In one of the final episodes of the season, “Eastwatch” sets up several unlikely confrontations for the few that remain. A caper is devised to convince the realm of the seriousness of the threat up North, while Littlefinger maneuvers the Stark sisters into a divisive battle. While we are treated to some unexpected reunions, the happy homecomings are cut short by “dark wings, dark words,” as Bran…

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Season 7, Episode 4: The Spoils of War

“The Spoils of War” is named most directly for the centerpiece of this week’s major conflict: the Lannister-led loot train heading to King’s Landing from Highgarden, weighed down with Tyrell gold and supplies. In a broader reading, the title is a double entendre for all that has been lost after years of conflict, the characters coming to terms with how they have been forever altered by war and…

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Season 7, Episode 3: The Queen's Justice

Season 7, Episode 3: The Queen’s Justice

In the latest episode, appropriately titled “The Queen’s Justice,” Queen Cersei executes her brutal strategy to outwit and overpower her primary opponents. Typically, the King’s Justice is the title of the royal executioner, though the phrase can also refer to any actions taken to deliver justice in the name of the king (or queen, in this case). Cersei, the first queen in the history of Westeros,…

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Season 7, Episode 2: Stormborn

The second episode of the season continued the theme of Daenerys-related episode titles: the first, “Dragonstone,” was named after her birthplace and the site of her return to Westeros, while this episode, “Stormborn,” calls back to her birth itself. Daenerys was born during Robert Baratheon’s rebellion against her father, the Mad King Aerys II. Her mother was sent to Dragonstone to give birth…

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Season 7, Episode 1: Dragonstone

First recap of the season! Enjoyable start. Season 7, Episode 1: Dragonstone

“Dragonstone” kicked off the penultimate season of Game of Thrones by tying many different cords of far-reaching storylines ever closer together. For the first time in the series, all of the remaining main characters are in Westeros. With only twelve episodes of our beloved series left between seasons 7 and 8, “Dragonstone” feels like it set in motion several of the events that will factor…

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Season 6, Episode 10: The Winds of Winter

Another outstanding season of @GameofThrones. So much happened! #GameofThrones will be missed!

In “The Winds of Winter,” it is not only the season that changes. Several of the major houses and characters are, by this point, nearly unrecognizable from the start of the series, killed or altered by a vicious cycle of vengeance that has motivated the events of this story since the beginning. It all started with one act—the supposed kidnapping and rape of Lyanna Stark by Rhaegar…

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Season 6, Episode 9: Battle of the Bastards

One of the most cinematic hours of television ever produced #GameofThrones @GameofThrones

In a glorious triumph of cinematic television, “Battle of the Bastards” gave us a rare victory for the “good guys”—the Starks and, for the time being, Daenerys Targaryen. While the audience has a clear rooting interest in the Starks, Daenerys is more of a wild card these days. For now, we can applaud her victory. However, I wonder if by the end of the series this is the moment we look back on to…

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Season 6, Episode 8: No One

In “No One” characters reclaim their identities and humanities @GameofThrones #GameofThrones

In this latest episode, ironically titled “No One,” characters throughout the land reclaim their identities and humanities. Over the years, inspired by Brienne, Jaime has found a sense of honor worthy of his true name, not the Kingslayer moniker that labeled him with disrepute. In this episode, Jaime may pretend to be the Kingslayer in his words to Edmure Tully, but his actions fulfill a…

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Season 6, Episode 7: The Broken Man

"The Broken Man" sets us up for what should be epic final eps of a great season #GameofThrones

The characters in Game of Thrones have suffered a lot over the years. Most are almost unrecognizable to their former selves. This episode’s title, “The Broken Man,” may be referring most specifically to the surprising return of Sandor Clegane (the Hound), but many other men and women bear this title, as well. One of the most important themes of the series is that war is awful business. George…

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Joanna Hayes